


We Don't Need to Start Over, Let's Just Be

by kemoiunder



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Super Dangan Ronpa 2
Genre: BUBBLEGUM ROCK, Basically Kazuichi owns a mechanic shop and he gets a random text from a guy, Fluff, M/M, Mutual Pining, Random Text AU, Would it be considered unrequited love if it was mutual?, eventual relationship I guess
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-14
Updated: 2017-06-14
Packaged: 2018-11-14 00:03:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,138
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11196249
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kemoiunder/pseuds/kemoiunder
Summary: Kazuichi arrives home from work one night, and sees he has a text notification from a random number. He hates random numbers texting him, but he goes along with the conversation in order to find out the identity. He finds more than he bargains for.Fluff because all I write is fluff. It's cool though because this time I wrote in Kazuichi's perspective, that never happens unless it's angst.





	We Don't Need to Start Over, Let's Just Be

It was pretty late when Kazuichi got off of work, managing a mechanic shop, as was his Ultimate ability and all that. His phone sat forgotten on the counter of his kitchen, not hooked up to the charger like it should have been, since he never had opportunities to check it throughout the day while at work.

 

He didn't think he needed it, as he was putting a bowl of instant ramen in the microwave, but the notification light was going off, so someone had obviously been trying to get ahold of him. Hoping it wasn't from a stray text in the morning, the pink-haired mechanic scooped up the device and prayed it hadn't been something too terribly important, only to frown when he saw it was a text from a random number, sent only a couple minutes before.

 

_Hey, you awake?_

 

Kazuichi frowned some more as he read the said text, three words, but he didn't recognize the number at all. He never deleted numbers from his phone for this exact reason, he didn't like being surprised by random texts from random numbers only to look like a dick when asking for their name. He wasn't going to go through that this time, he would just go along with it for now. Maybe the conversation would reveal who the sender was after a little while.

 

_Just got home from work, what's up?_

 

The mechanic didn't think that sounded too staged, it was what he would normally respond with to one of his friends if they had asked the same question. Not one minute had gone by when his messaging tone chimed, from the same number. Kazuichi's ramen also decided to be ready at that exact same moment and he didn't want the noodles to get soggy, so he chose to get to the microwave over looking at said text.

 

After putting in the seasoning on the noodles, he decided to at least check the text from this random person, maybe it was an emergency, and he could at least tell them that they were talking to a random person, end this conversation quickly and whatnot.

 

_just bored. im so fucking exhausted, but finally got a day off tomorrow XD_

 

Kazuichi really didn't know how to respond to that though. So what, the person has a day off and he just decided to text a random number? He frowned as he began practically wolfing down his noodles, halfway through them he realized he should've poached an egg or something to put on top for some protein, but he could always just poach some eggs later if he really wanted to. Just as he was finishing his meal his phone went off again. The mechanic looked at it once again and his brain practically short-circuited.

 

The text had a picture attached, but it was the picture that made the pink-haired man double-take. It was a bare chest, of a man with low-hanging shorts on. It looked as though he had taken a picture laying down, the angle was completely vertical. Why the hell would someone just text a random number a picture of themselves? The text that went along with the picture said,

 

_i havent even taken a shower yet :P_

 

Kazuichi was a little peeved, he realized the picture definitely showed a bulge in the guy's pants, so this was most likely supposed to be a booty call. He knew he should feel insulted, if not totally pissed off, but it was also strangely erotic.

 

_What the fuck? Why are you sending me that, I don't know who you are._

 

Well, now the metaphorical cat was out of the bag, so maybe the guy would stop texting him. If he was honest with himself the guy was pretty good looking, he was just Kazuichi's type in guys, but for some reason he just really wasn't in the mood for some random guy to start texting him dirty photos.

 

_this is Kazuichi, right?_

 

What the fuck? Why would this random guy have his number? Just as the mechanic was starting to completely have a brain meltdown trying to think of the various reasons of why someone would randomly have his number, he received yet another text.

 

_i got your number from Akane_

Well that explained at least a little bit. It explained at least the reason why he was going to kick Akane’s ass the next time he saw her, regardless of her being a woman. She did this all the time, did things that she probably knew that the mechanic would have a problem with and expect him to just go along with it because they had been friends ever since their first year of high school. Those three years were a weird sort of Hell, where Kazuichi discovered he was gay and even had crushes on classmates; Akane was always there to tease him mercilessly for them.

 

_This is Kazuichi, but it doesn’t explain why you’re sending me naughty pictures._

The response again was almost immediate.

 

_that was not naughty in the slightest. what are you talking about. you want me to get naughty?_

Kazuichi was frowning again. He was definitely getting angry now. He decided to call Akane. She could probably tell him who exactly she had given his number to. If she couldn’t, then that meant she was giving it away to any or everybody, and he would literally rip her a new asshole with his fist if she did that.

 

“Aish.. Kazu you realize it’s like two in the morning, right?”

 

The mechanic only felt a little bad about that, but this was the person who had given his number to a complete stranger.

 

“Yeah. And I’m wondering why random people are texting pictures of basically their dick to my phone. Who’d you give my number to, ‘kane?”

 

There was definitely a snort on the other end of the line, and some chuckling, but it still sounded like the gymnast was tired as fuck, he actually probably woke her up while she was in the middle of training.

 

“I gave your number to this guy who kept talking about you.”

 

Kazuichi pinched the bridge and shook his head, but then realized Akane could not see the motion, and it made it seem like he was just being uncharacteristically quiet.

 

“Who is he?”

 

There was a pause now, as if Akane was actually thinking about it. He swore, if she gave his number of a bunch of different people they were no longer friends, all the years behind them be damned.

 

“Leon Kuwata.”

 

Now it was Kazuichi’s turn to pause, to realize that he did in fact sort of recognize the body that he had been shown in that photo. He was distracted again from the call by the notification of his messaging going off again, maybe Leon again sending another picture that was apparently now naughty.

 

“I’ll call you later, ‘kane..”

 

A shout of, “If you call me again before noon today I will castrate you!” from his friend and he hung up.

 

He had indeed gotten another message from Leon himself, but Kazuichi could admit that he was honestly a bit scared. It wasn’t a picture though, thank the gods for the mechanic’s heart if nothing else. The message made him more confused than anything.

 

_ill stop if im making you uncomfortable, but it seemed like the only way to get you to talk to me_

 

That really confused Kazuichi though, because for the longest time, even in their high school days, Leon Kuwata was always the person people wanted to talk to, never the other way around. Now that the mechanic really thought about it though, it didn’t seem like the other guy had many friends, just passing acquaintances. He kind of wanted Leon to admit that it was him sending the photos though, that he was the one texting Kazuichi.

 

_I’d feel better if I knew who this was._

Now Kazuichi would be able to tell if Leon was truthful, or if he would lie and say he was somebody who he wasn’t. Or even tell him at all who he was. The mechanic did end up deciding to poach some eggs, so while he was doing that his phone chimed again. Kazuichi didn’t rush to check it though, his eggs needed to be perfect. After that was done, and cooling off, then he decided to scoop his phone back up, eager to see if Leon was actually going to fess up or not. He saw that there were actually four different messages though.

 

_i dunno if you want to know that, honestly_

_i always wanted to talk to you in high school, but never found the courage_

_and now, even with this, i look so weird. i hope you dont think im weird_

_this is Leon. Leon Kuwata…from high school? i was a year younger than you but i always wanted to talk to you because you looked really cool and im rambling now pls respond i dont want you to hate me_

Kazuichi snorted at that last text, he could never hate Leon Kuwata. He had had a definite crush on the guy all throughout his high school career. Well, at least for the two years they were at the same school. He and Akane had been in the grade above Leon and his friends. Leon and Akane had actually been friends through their muscle-head friends. Nekomaru from their class had been friends with Mondo from Leon’s as well as Sakura and Aoi. So, there were many times to be able to hang out between all the students, but he had never really had the chance to talk to Leon one on one. Kazuichi had actually decided towards the middle of his third year that he was just going to forget that he even had the crush in order to focus on his own studies, which had been falling below the standards after so long of pining. So, to think that all that time, Leon had wanted to talk to him and thought that Kazuichi had looked cool, that was almost unbelievable. Now that he thought about it, he really should message Leon back, it looked like he was being an ass by not responding.

 

_Dude I don’t think you’re weird. And I don’t hate you either._

The response was almost instantaneous, as if Leon had been letting the conversation between them open on his phone while he waited for an answer.

 

_really? i really hope you arent messing with me dude_

Kazuichi snorted as he started eating his eggs, he didn’t really know how to respond to that other than what he had said previously. He decided to just say it verbatim.

 

_I’m serious. I don’t hate you. It was literally like the complete opposite of that all throughout high school._

Wait, why did he say that? Kazuichi wished he could just take his phone and delete that message; he basically in no certain words said that he had liked Leon all throughout high school. Which, to be frank, wasn’t a lie, but the other guy didn’t need to know that! He was almost sick enough to not eat the rest of his eggs, but his hunger ultimately won and he scarfed the rest down. While he was putting the dishes in the sink to wash a little later, his phone went off again. Hopefully it wasn’t Leon saying that he thought that Kazuichi was the weird one now.

 

_dude dont fucking mess with me. dont tell me that if you arent completely serious_

Now the mechanic was the one that was a bit confused, what the hell? This weird turn of events was starting to give him a headache, he just wanted to sleep. But he really wanted to know what Leon meant. Maybe he just really wanted to be friends in high school?

 

_I’m completely serious._

Hopefully, that would make Leon say whatever he needed to say. In the meantime, Kazuichi started to get ready to at least lay in bed; he shrugged out of his mechanic garb and shucked his sweat encrusted tank top off, grabbing a fresh one from his dresser; also grabbing some boxer shorts and pulling those on quickly.

 

_youre telling me you wouldnt have rejected me if i confessed to you in high school?_

Kazuichi’s heart just about stopped beating for a few seconds, and his pulse jumped. _What?_ Leon had wanted to confess? Also, why were they having this conversation over text when they could have been having it in person, where actual feelings could go into it? He hated having serious talks over text because the person could work on their responses, while in the heat of the moment they couldn’t always think of the best thing to say. At times the ‘best’ thing to say wasn’t the right answer to a problem, and Kazuichi hated not dealing with the problem.

 

_Are we really having this conversation over text? Why can’t we talk in person about this…_

The reply was instantaneous again.

 

_do you work tomorrow?_

As a matter of fact, Kazuichi was not working the next day; he remembered that the next day was Sunday. His mechanic shop wasn’t open on Sundays except for when his clients called him directly if they had emergencies.

 

_No, I don’t. Do you want to come over?_

Kazuichi hoped that Leon didn’t misinterpret that as like an actual booty call, because he really just wanted to talk to the guy and hoped to settle this out. They hadn’t seen each other since Kazuichi had graduated years before, even then he hadn’t had much time to hang out with their squad during those final months. He had already decided to give up on his crush by then as well, so there had been no reason to seek out the Ultimate Baseball Star. Speaking of, he didn’t even know if he lived in the same city as Leon anymore; he could have been in a different country for all he knew. But he did say that he had gotten his number from Akane, so he had to have been around there to at least get that from her.

 

_sure! where do you live?_

 

He quickly sent off the address and hoped that it wouldn’t be too far away for the other.

 

_no fucking way dude._

Kazuichi was really confused, he just typed a bunch of question marks in the chat. Suddenly he heard footsteps outside his door in the hallway. The floor wasn’t made of soft material so he could always hear his neighbors when they left and came home, but he was a heavy sleeper so it never hindered him from sleeping. Abruptly there was a knock on the door, and Kazuichi briefly wondered if he and Leon had managed to live in the same apartment building and not notice one another all that time.

 

He got up from where he had been lounging on his bed and quickly made his way to the door; anxious nerves suddenly coming up out of nowhere in his belly. He looked through the peephole and well there he had it; he and Leon fucking Kuawata had been living in the same apartment building.

 

He threw the door open and they just looked at each other, stunned.

 

“Uhh, hi?”

 

Kazuichi’s squeak of a greeting was overshadowed by the huge grin on the other man’s face. The mechanic noticed that the other man hadn’t really changed all that much, his hair was a little bit longer, it didn’t stick up like it did in high school. But the same could be said for Kazuichi as well, he had grown his hair out even more and wore it in a braid that he made into a bun when he was working. It had fallen from the bun and most of the braid, so he probably looked like a straight up mess, while Leon looked like a fucking Greek statue.

 

“Holy shit! Kazuichi Souda, we live in the same fucking apartment building!”

 

The mechanic stepped aside to gesture for the other man to come in, and the man practically sauntered in, all the awkwardness from his earlier texts gone apparently. He quickly drew Kazuichi in for a hug before tensing, drawing back to look at him.

 

“I want an answer though. If I had confessed to you in high school, would you have rejected me?”

 

Kazuichi cringed a bit, they were getting right to that part already. He was glad that the other man had at least put on a shirt and some sweatpants, better than the low hanging shorts and bare chest that he had seen in the picture the other man had sent earlier. The mechanic tried to look sheepish, but he already knew his answer; there was no way in Hell he would have ever rejected the other man, regardless of the request.

 

“Probably not. I really needed to focus on my studies that final year though.”

 

Leon nodded, seeming to understand, and he grabbed the mechanic’s hand.

 

“So, if I confess to you now, would you reject me?”

 

Where the fuck was all this bravado coming from? One minute over text he sounded like a ball of nerves and talking about Kazuichi hating him, the next he was talking about confessing. The mechanic just didn’t get it; he knew that Leon had had a ton of confidence while in high school; having a lot of friends did that to a person, but this was completely different.

 

“Can..can I think about it?”

 

Leon now had a desperate look on his face.

 

“What do you need to think about? I like you; if you like me, accept my feelings, if you don’t, then reject me.”

 

Now Kazuichi was getting a bit angry.

 

“Hey hey hey! You don’t just get to come over here and decide this! I haven’t seen you in years, and all of a sudden I get random texts from this guy that I had the hugest crush on all throughout my last two years of high school, only to suddenly be told that he had liked me back! I get to think about it! I’m confused and I really wish you would have just asked me for my number instead of getting Akane to give it to you.”

 

Kazuichi realized that he just confessed that he liked Leon all throughout their high school years of knowing each other, and he really didn’t mean to do that. He quickly turned around and shoved his hands to his face, trying to desperately make the blush that had started to spread stop. He felt hands on his shoulders and tensed, waiting for the moment all of it came back to bite him in the ass.

 

“I didn’t know you liked me. I-I would have told you that I liked you back.”

 

Hearing Leon Kuwata stutter was a surprise in itself, without the bomb that he had just dropped on Kazuichi’s life. Well, actually, he took that back, it wasn’t a bomb; it was just something that really surprised him, is all. The hands on his shoulders were comforting, to say the least, they started to rub up and downs Kazuichi’s shoulder blades. He really regretted not keeping his mechanic uniform on, at least to stop Leon from being able to see the goosebumps that erupted on Kazuichi’s skin. But then Leon would have seen him in his dirty uniform covered in oil and grease, so maybe this was just fine.

 

“Can we..uh. Date?”

 

Again with the being brutally honest and confident, Kazuichi didn’t know where Leon got it from; he seemed so awkward through text. The mechanic turned to look at the other man now, and it was thinly veiled hoped that showed in the other’s eyes, waiting for Kazuichi’s answer.

 

“Dude! I just said I needed to think about it!”

 

Leon showed yet another desperate look on his face, his hands grabbing at the mechanic’s shoulders again.

 

“Then why don’t we just talk?”

 

And as the two men nodded at each other and had a seat at Kazuichi’s couch, they did. They talked about high school, what they did afterwards, what they’re doing now. Leon had had a knee injury while playing baseball, so he was retired from playing his Ultimate sport. They talked about Kazuichi’s mechanic shop and how he was living his dream, fixing anything and everything that he knew how to. They talked until they could see the sun start to come up, until they both looked like they could really use some rest.

 

“Do you uh..want to stay here?”

 

Kazuichi’s question was met with a blinding smile from the other man, and Leon nodded as they each got up and went to the open door of the bedroom, where the mechanic sighed as he saw his still crumpled up uniform on the floor and the covers of his bed still pulled back from when he had tried to get into bed the first time that night. It seemed Leon had no reservations about sharing a bed, as he almost literally bounced into the bed. Kazuichi was already technically dressed to sleep, so he just slipped under the covers with the other man.

 

Now came the time for small inner monologues courtesy of Kazuichi’s brain. Would Leon want to talk more while they were in bed? Would he want to cuddle? Would he try to pursue that initial booty call that Kazuichi had thought this was all that time ago, hours ago? There were many questions flitting across the mechanic’s brain, all the while Leon was staring at him, looking like he knew exactly where his brain was heading.

 

“Hey. Stop thinking so much. I can see the cogs turning from here.”

 

Kazuichi mentally shook himself, all the while Leon was smiling at him on the other side of the bed. It was a queen-sized bed, so there was surely enough room for the both of them, but the mechanic was still a bit nervous. He had imagined Leon and him sharing a bed before, but that was back in high school before he banished his crush from his mind. It was never like this though, talking literally all throughout the night and then sleeping in the same bed after said hours-long conversation.

 

“Sorry. It just feels a little surreal.”

 

That was an understatement, but with the way Leon was looking at him now, expression filled with soft affection, it might be the same for the both of them. It was just such an intriguing thought, to think that the both of them harbored crushes on the other but never actually confessed. Kazuichi now wondered if Akane ever knew, and if that was why she always teased him for it, always pushed him to confess, and seemed genuinely upset when he told her he had given up on it all those years ago.

 

“Don’t think of it like that. Just think of it as us starting over.”

 

Leon was partially right, they could just start over, they were never close enough in high school for there to be some sort of relationship for them to go back to, and if they did that, it wouldn’t have to feel so surreal like Kazuichi was feeling. But he didn’t want to start over, not completely. He did at least get to see the other man for two years in high school until Kazuichi graduated. They had been mutual friends, with their other friends bringing them to at least see each other enough to know if they were there at school or absent for the day for whatever reason.

 

“We don’t need to start over.. Let’s just be.”

 

There was a slight confused daze on Leon’s face now, but he was probably tired from talking all night.

 

“Just be?”

 

The mechanic nodded, as he pulled the other man closer to him in the bed. Soon they were pressed from shoulder to hip, their legs tangling under the sheets. It was comfortable, with the sun starting to peak up in between Kazuichi’s curtains. He didn’t technically have them pulled closed, so they would probably be woken up later when the sun rose higher. Kazuichi shoved his face into the younger man’s hair, he smelled clean, he must have taken a shower in between the texting conversation, since Kazuichi remembered him saying that he hadn’t yet.

 

It didn’t feel like something big was starting, it just felt like something finally clicked into place. Even if things weren’t entirely perfect, as long as they discussed it, and maybe didn’t go behind the other’s back and ask for their number from a mutual friend again, it would work out; Kazuichi thought so, anyways.

 

“Alright. Let’s just be.”


End file.
